Private sector investing in regions – BDO exec

Feb 12, 2018 -
The Manila Times By Mayvelin U. Caraballo

DAVAO CITY: Businesses have been investing outside Manila as part of a commitment to support the government’s goal of distributing growth across the country, BDO Capital & Investment Corp. President Eduardo Francisco said on Friday.

“The private sector is investing heavily in the provinces and supporting businesses to grow all over the country,” Francisco said at The Manila Times 7th Business Forum at the Marco Polo Davao.

“If the private sector did not believe in this government we would not be expanding our business. So the fact that we are borrowing shows that we are really supporting the government. We believe in the ‘Build Build Build’ [infrastructure program],” he added.

He claimed that the country’s biggest conglomerates were planning to build at least 20 to 25 malls in the next three years, substantially more than the five to 10 malls during the past administration.

“It’s great news that there’s a lot happening in the private sector,” Francisco said.

“Look at the numbers. We are really growing at almost P200 billion to P300 billion of capex,” he added.

The Manila Times forum, which carried the theme of “Build, Consume, Grow: Gaining momentum for an emerging economy to soar”, gathered business leaders and economic thinkers to discuss prevailing trends and challenges in business and the general economy.